The 17^th of July marked World Emoji Day, a ‘celebration’ of the colourful instant messenger symbols that have taken the world by storm. There are currently 2,666 emojis on the official Unicode Standard list, which I can only assume is some kind of emoji dictionary. Like my work colleagues and my Facebook messenger obsessed mother, ‘emoji’ is swiftly becoming the language of choice when on social media or instant messaging (BBM anyone? Bebo?). But, is 2,666 really enough for the emoji obsessed world?

Step forward Sticky AI, an app that creates your own instant messenger stickers using your photos. After opening the app, you can either take a photo or import one from your photo library. Sticky AI will then cut out the background to leave just the people, which you can add a filter to or a text caption. Alternatively, you can take a burst of photos to create an animated sticker or GIF, depending on what your chosen messaging app supports. The finished article can be sent as an image in iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat, WhatsApp or Telegram.

So, if the lack of emoji variety is getting you down, why not have a go at creating your own sticker alternatives? Sticky AI is available now on iOS, and due in “a week or two” on Android.